Description: Tom Cruise as an assassin in a silver-gray suit
shows up in Los Angeles at dusk and expects to leave at
dawn. His job: to eliminate five witnesses in an impending
federal prosecution of a drug cartel. He bullies a
sweet-tempered taxi-driver, one Max Durocher (Jamie Foxx),
into providing transportation all through the night, and
"Collateral" turns into a kind of convoluted buddy movie, in
which the two men engage in a weird, terse dialogue about
murder. The plot of "Collateral," which was directed by
Michael Mann, is just a movie-ish contrivance, and the
violence is no more than thuggishly casual and chic-that is,
very enjoyable. But shot by shot, scene by scene, Mann may
be the best director in Hollywood. Methodical and precise,
he analyzes a scene into minute components-a door closing,
an arm thrust out-and gathers the fragments into seamless
units; he wants you to live inside the physical event, not
just experience the sensation of it. "Collateral" comes off
like clockwork, but it's a clock that breathes-great actors
like Mark Ruffalo, Javier Bardem, and Barry Shabaka Henley
have sustained, intricate moments in the pauses between the
violent acts. With Jada Pinkett Smith. Written by Stuart
Beattie. Shot largely with digital cameras by Dion Beebe and
Paul Cameron.

-David Denby at The New Yorker

The Film:

Director
Michael Mann’s “Collateral”
has an intoxicating vibe,
which is reinforced by
ambiance, a somber score by
James Newton Howard and the
use of high definition
cameras by Dion Beebe and
Paul Cameron. And not unlike
“Lost in Translation,”
“Collateral” succeeds
because of its keen
attention to the intricate
nuances of its characters
and the incoherent world
they inhabit.

Jamie Foxx, in his best
acting role to date, plays
Max, a quite cab driver who
prefers the night shift to
the day shift because it’s
less stressful and the tips
are better. He’s meticulous
in his attention to detail,
making sure his cab is
extremely clean and
functionality is in perfect
working order before
starting the night.

Max’s first fare is Annie,
played perfectly by Jada
Pinkett Smith. She’s a
prosecutor who’s got a big
case the next day and is
going to have to pull an
all-nighter to make sure her
exhibits are in order.
Smith’s screen time is
relatively short compared to
the films leads—Foxx and Tom
Cruise—but she’s not wasted
at all. As her character
Annie and Max travel across
the freeway toward her
destination, there’s an
immediate chemistry conveyed
by both the characters and
the actors playing them.
It’s not only gripping but
one of the best acted scenes
I’ve ever witnessed. It’s so
grounded in reality and
played so realistically that
it’s very believable and
intensely personal. This
scene and the films
effectiveness in grounding
itself in reality also comes
from the solid script by
Stuart Beattie.

Once Max drops off Annie he
picks up his second, and
unknowingly his last, fare
of the night—Vincent
(Cruise). He’s a gray haired
man, not in the old sense
but in the assassin sense,
who ends up bribing Max with
more money than his shift
pays. The contract is for
Max to take Vincent to
multiple stops throughout
the night to see friends and
close a big deal. But when
Vincent’s first stop lands a
fat Angelino on Max’s cab,
Max soon realizes the man he
made a deal with is not as
clear cut as he thought, and
he made a big mistake in
accepting Vincent’s money.
“You killed him? asks Max.
“No, I shot him. Bullets and
the fall killed him.”

It turns out that the fat
Angelino was being worked on
by an undercover Detective
Fanning (Mark Ruffalo). When
Fanning goes to visit the
guy he finds a window
shattered and blood on the
pavement below. However,
there remains no body.

Throughout the night Vincent
racks up more and more
kills, while Max finds out
what he’s really made of and
Detective Fanning gets
closer and closer to putting
all the pieces together.
While on the surface the
plot of “Collateral” may
seem like just a
run-of-the-mill thriller,
it’s not. The power of
Mann’s cinematic vision and
his care for the depth and
breadth of quite dialogue
driven scenes really
elevates the film beyond its
genre norms.

Cruise gives a ferociously
intense performance that
stands out but is equally
supported. His take on a
charismatic contract killer
shows that his first turn as
a villain was well worth the
wait. The dualities of
Vincent’s charismatic and
psychotic qualities shine
through in Cruise’s
chameleon like acting. And
Vincent is more than your
stereo typical bad guy.
Actually, there is enough
sympathy and rationalization
thrown Vincent’s way that
it’s hard not to root for
him on some level. The
conversations Max and
Vincent have, in between
stops and at them, only add
more interest towards
Vincent’s disturbed psyche.

Part of the ambiance that
Mann conveys in “Collateral”
comes from the locations, as
well as the way certain
scenes are shot and either
accompanied with score or a
song. One shot in particular
occurs when the taxi pulls
up to a red light in the
latter half of the film.
Both Vincent and Max feel
lost at this point, having
been through so much
throughout the long and
grueling night. As Vincent
looks out his right window
into the distant night, we
can see a long street of
palm trees going down the
road out the window to his
left. This long and desolate
road amps up our emotional
connection to Vincent’s
ambiguous place in the
world. Right after that shot
there’s a cut to a shot of a
wild coyote crossing in
front of the cab before the
light turns green. There’s
amazing beauty and symbolism
to its presence.

Another significant scene
and vibe comes when Max has
had enough of not only
Vincent but himself. He
realizes ending Vincent’s
tirade is in his own hands,
so he disregards Vincent’s
gun totting order to slow
down and speeds up the taxi.
The song "Shadow on the Sun"
by Audioslave is played over
this scene, really putting
us inside this intense
culmination scene of all of
the night’s transgressions.

The high definition cameras
also add to a surrealistic
and heightened sense of
reality that only a
cinematic film could convey.
The use of high definition
in particular is pertinent
to some helicopter camera
shots of the streets below.
We can make out the distance
and scope of the streets of
L.A. but also at times the
taxi we’re following below.

“Collateral” is every
bit as good as Mann’s 1995
magnum opus “Heat,”
in fact, in this reviewers
humble opinion, it’s better.
To those who enjoy either
Cruise’s acting or Mann’s
direction, it’s a safe bet
the film won’t disappoint.
And to every one else, don’t
miss one of the most
gripping, well made films of
the year.

Image : NOTE:The below
Blu-ray
captures were taken directly from the
Blu-ray
disc.

Collateral
appears to have benefited in the move to
Blu-ray
although the transfer still identifies some of the
limitations of the HD camera usage. The noise is most
prevalent in the darker scenes that tend to dominate
Collateral. When there is some better lit
close-ups they accentuate the differences. Colors tighten up
marginally but detail advances significantly at times over
the SD-DVD.
There is no video-haze that we sometimes wee with this
manner of production but glare exists when direct
fluorescent light appears in the frame. Overall this
Blu-ray
more accurately reports the visuals but fans expecting
crystal clear clarity will be left wanting. It wasn't shot
with that intention. The dual-layered rendering has a high
bitrate and, in my opinion, is a vastly stronger
presentation depending on the equipment you are using.

CLICK EACH BLU-RAY
CAPTURE TO SEE ALL IMAGES IN FULL 1920X1080 RESOLUTION

Audio :

Audio is a
powerhouse 5.1 DTS-HD Master at a pulsing 4263 kbps. While handling the
guns and car crashes with alacrity - it's the night pauses with their
subtleties, that tend to draw the most praise from this reviewer.
Comparatively to the DVD there is abundant depth. The Blu-rays offers
DUBS and subtitles and m

y Momitsu
has identified
it as being a region FREE disc playable on
Blu-ray
machines worldwide.

Extras :

The supplements
appear to duplicate the 2-disc SE DVD which Joseph Schmickrath commented on
below:

"

Perusing through the extras, the most interesting and important
feature of this two disc set is Mann’s audio commentary on disc one.
He’s very articulate and easy to listen to. He delves into not only
the technical aspect of the shoot but also the flow of the narrative
and the main characters biographical information not told in the
film. It’s definitely worth a listen.

Moving on to disc two, there’s a very nice making of feature
entitled “City of Night: The Making of Collateral.” With a running
time of approximately 41 minutes, it’s not your typical EPK fluff.
It’s actually a wonderful companion piece to the commentary, really
delving further into what is covered by it. It’s anamorphic and
framed at 1.78:1. The feature also does a wonderful job of covering
the various departments that worked on the film. One really
interesting thing that isn’t listed on IMDB is that there’s
additional score by Antonio Pinto, as opposed to just James Newton
Howard.

The rest of the features are interesting but relatively short. First
up is a feature, which clocks in at 1 minute and 8 seconds called
“Special Delivery.” Basically director Michael Mann wanted Tom
Cruise to try to deliver a package as a Fed-Ex delivery man without
being recognized. Mann felt that if Cruise could pull this off it
would add to his character of Vincent who would be completely
unrecognizable. The problem with this feature is we’re told about
all the details and only shown a glimpse of what would otherwise be
a very cool feature.

Next there’s one deleted scene with Mann commentary that shows
Vincent having Max go through LAX airport arrivals in order to blend
in with other taxies, so that when he comes out the other side he’ll
have lost any tails following him. It’s a good scene but I agree
with Mann’s reason for deletion, which is that it would take the
audience out of the vibe and momentum that the picture has up to
that point.

“Shooting on Location: Annie’s Office” gives us a quick look at one
of the films final climatic scenes. There’s also a cool little
feature showing Jaime Foxx and Tom Cruise rehearsing. Finally,
there’s “Visual FX: MTA Train showing how Mann used green screen for
the final sequence of the movie. The only other additional extras
are trailers, cast and filmmaker bios, and production notes.".

BOTTOM LINE: I don't share the enthusiasm that Joseph does for the film, but
admit to it's entertainment value. Cruise and Foxx work well
together and the support is awesome from the likes of a
perfect, edgy but committed, L.A. detective in Ruffalo, a
dash of lawyerly babe with Jada Pinkett Smith and pinch of
seething Latin Javier Bardem. As
an action/thriller this holds up just as well today even
though I don't see the subtext beyond the violence. I
certainly can't deny the
Blu-ray gave me a better viewing than the older DVD - in both audio and
video. This film has a certain style and aura that is really
helped by the 1080P. The grittiness comes through as more
'naturalistic'. Yes, we recommend.

Gary Tooze

March 27th, 2010

About the Reviewer:
Hello, fellow Beavers! I have been interested in film
since I viewed a Chaplin festival on PBS when I was
around 9 years old. I credit DVD with expanding my
horizons to fill an almost ravenous desire to seek out
new film experiences. I currently own approximately 9500
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Although I never wanted to become one of those guys who
focused 'too much' on image and sound quality - I
find HD is swiftly pushing me in that direction. So be
it, but film will always be my first love and I list my
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HERE.